Between the warm weather and the even better crowd of roughly 150 industry professionals, it’s no wonder attendees were clinking their glasses of craft cocktails to keep cool during conversation and networking over hors d’oeuvres and music.

Back when Jim McShane entered the business world, real estate consisted of working in all departments. Hired right out of college in 1968, he began his career working for Rauenhorst Construction Co., now known as Opus Group, as a structural engineer. After settling with the company in Minneapolis, McShane was doing more than designing— he did construction, net leases and spec buildings, too.

“I did some design for the construction but in those days, it wasn’t broken down into categories, we did all the things there,” McShane, CEO of McShane Cos., explained. “We didn’t call it just construction or leases, it was just a business that did all of those and later on, it developed more categories. We did all of the above.”

It seems like there weren’t any limits for McShane. He continually worked his way up, even ran against two others for the president slot, but ultimately, it was time for him to move on.

And he did— in 1984, he started The McShane Companies.

McShane remembers this time as one of his most unforgettable real estate experiences.

“It was certainly going out on your own that was exciting,” he noted. “It was certainly memorable.”

The firm is especially focused on customer support and holding true to the company’s ethics, according to McShane.

“We try to hire people that are good with customers,” he said. “We try to be the best we can. We have ethics programs for employees every other year. We’re good with our integrity.”

As for what’s been the most rewarding part of his job, McShane said it has to be watching the next generation of leaders coming through and developing strong development programs, which he said means a lot to him.

“Being able to watch them grow and develop and providing leadership as they grow in their careers,” he added.

As CEO of all the companies, McShane said he oversees the division, and works hard at strategic planning the career development of the next generation of leaders. Not to mention, he provides a lot of help and enthusiasm for those in the company.

The companies have had quite a bit of success lately, especially in the industrial sector. McShane Construction recently provided the design/build construction of a 136,920-square-foot tenant suite in Elgin, Illinois, for Illinois Tool Works (ITW), and McShane Development provided the comprehensive tenant improvement services for Kellogg’s within Union Pointe Building Three, a 256,880-square-foot industrial facility in Woodridge, Illinois

Projects aside, there are certainly obstacles that can hinder business and McShane addressed the challenge he sees in today’s market:

“I think it’s to find land that can be developed at a reasonable time frame,” he said, adding that it’s real spotty. “It takes years where you keep looking, looking and looking and then eventually, you’ll find one that works.”

Outside of work, McShane likes to spend a lot of quality time with his grandchildren. Additionally, traveling, skiing, and golfing also topped his list of hobbies.

Two of Chicago’s growing brokerage firms, The Modal Group and Taurus Realty Partners have merged to form Taurus Modal Group. The firm’s senior brokers Daniel Smolensky SIOR, Marat Safir and Andrew Corken, SIOR bring over 60 years of combined experience in advising tenants and buyers in their corporate real estate decisions. Smolensky and Safir will serve as executive directors of the new firm.

“When you find like minded people who inspire you and bring passion to a relationship, you need to find a way to work together more. This merger secures that alliance,” said Smolensky.

In the past four years, The Modal Group and Taurus Realty Partners have collectively completed over two and half million square feet of transactions valued at over $100 million. A sample of recent client transactions include Casio America, RIM Logistics, Pet Food Experts, The Mattress Firm, Moss, One Stop Mailing, Trudeau, Baldor Chicago, WinCup, American Inks & Coatings, and Country Financial.

Safir said that ultimately, the tenant-rep platform provides a transparent relationship with their clients, and added that the alignment of interests and values between Modal and Taurus will ensure we continue to grow this model, allowing us to offer a broader range of services for our customers.

Corken also shared that their non-conflicted approach, which is achieved by representing users and tenants not professional real estate owners, better enables their clients to determine which landlord is a suitable partner for their business’ success.

“We are laser-focused on reducing our clients’ real estate costs. As little as $0.25 per square foot could mean tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings over the term of a lease. Our clients know that they have an advisor that works for every penny and has their best interests in mind 100% of the time,“ Smolensky added.

Wight & Company has announced that Matthew Duggan has been promoted to vice president within the firm’s design group. Duggan previously served as corporate market manager for the group and will continue in that role. He first joined the team at Wight & Company in 2006.

Working with clients in the commercial, corporate interiors, education, municipal, religious and retail sectors, Duggan assists with all phases of a project – from programming to construction coordination to move-in. He has been instrumental in the growth of the company’s Corporate Market and Interiors practice.

“Matt is a skilled leader of high-performance teams. In addition to managing budgets and schedules, Matt is exceptional with client relationships and delivering project success,” James Mark, Jr., Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Wight & Company’s Chicago office, said.

Duggan’s recent clients include the ADP, Morgan Stanley, CDK Global, Allstate Insurance, Adler Planetarium, Philips, Citigroup, and Chicago Public Building Commission. Duggan earned his BS in Architectural Studies at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Mulcrone has more than 25 years of leadership experience. He comes to BOMA with a variety of skills, perspective and knowledge. In addition to having served in management positions in two associations, he has been a police sergeant, a security director for a real estate management company, an associate member of BOMA Chicago, and a successful business owner.

The expansion comes less than two years after ARCO/Murray completed a 56,000-square-foot buildout for GoodFoods at the same facility.

The latest expansion includes 30,000 square feet of cold storage and cold food processing space with 2,000 square feet of mezzanine. The project also featured the addition of an interior dock and a three-position cold dock with vertical levelers.

Glenn DesRosiers, senior vice president of brokerage services at Friedman, represented the tenant in this transaction.

]]>http://www.rejournals.com/2015/07/31/friedman-integrated-real-estate-solutions-helps-close-7900-square-feet-flex-space-lease-in-michigan/feed/0Why you shouldn’t worry (yet) that developers are bringing too many apartment units to your cityhttp://www.rejournals.com/2015/07/31/why-you-shouldnt-worry-yet-that-developers-are-bringing-too-many-apartment-units-to-your-city/
http://www.rejournals.com/2015/07/31/why-you-shouldnt-worry-yet-that-developers-are-bringing-too-many-apartment-units-to-your-city/#commentsFri, 31 Jul 2015 06:14:28 +0000http://www.rejournals.com/?p=56334It’s common knowledge that the multifamily market remains a hot one across the Midwest and the nation. But sometimes it helps to look at the numbers to see just how strong this commercial sector is.

Yardi recently released its July Matrix survey, and found that in the 101 markets the company covers monthly apartment rents rose to an average of $1,155 in July. That happens to be the highest this figure has ever been.

Of course, there is a debate — it’s just simmering now — starting over whether developers are bringing too many new apartment units to the nation’s largest metropolitan areas. Developers know that consumers — especially those coveted younger ones — want to live in the hearts of urban areas. So they haven’t been shy about pumping these areas with modern new apartment towers.

When, the more cautious are asking, will cities have too many new apartments and, because of this, too many vacancies?

A look at the numbers from Yardi, though, should bring some relief to even the most cautious of real estate observers: It doesn’t look like the supply of new apartment units will be outpacing the demand for them any time soon.

The most recent Yardi survey, for instance, found that on a year-over-year basis, average apartment rents jumped by 6.5 percent in July, according to Yardi. That’s a big jump, just ask anyone looking to rent in an urban area today.

Yardi singled out Minneapolis/St. Paul as one of the stronger apartment markets in the Midwest. According to the survey, average apartment rents here jumped 4 percent from July of last year to the same month this year.

But the Twin Cities were far from the only market seeing strong apartment rental growth in the July suvey. Yardi reported that rents increased by less than 4 percent year-over-year in only five of the metropolitan areas that Yardi studies. Only three of the 101 metro areas saw rent growths of less than 2.8 percent during this same time.

What’s this mean? Only that developers have yet to saturate most markets with too much multifamily product. That is the fear, that Midwest cities will see too many new apartments too quickly. So far, though, the demand for new apartment units has not surpassed the supply of these units in most major Midwest markets.

There will come a time when cities across the Midwest no longer need new apartment units. But as the Yardi survey illustrates, that time hasn’t arrived yet.

Global Logistic Properties Limited (GLP) has leased 475,000 square feet to a leading global retailer in Greater Chicago, US. The customer will use the facilities to enhance its distribution capabilities in Midwest US.

Paul Loosmann, Co-Chief Investment Officer of GLP US, said: “We are very pleased to further expand our partnership with this key customer, a multi-national retailer. Customer demand for our Laraway Crossings asset has been very strong due to the right combination of access to the Intermodal, excellent road infrastructure and the great workforce available in Joliet. The collaboration announced today highlights the value GLP’s network provides in enabling our customers to rapidly expand distribution capacity.”

Austin Weisenbeck, Sean R. Sharko and Adrian Mendoza, investment specialists in Marcus & Millichap’s Chicago Oak Brook office, had the exclusive listing to market the property on behalf of the seller, a developer. The buyer, a private South Dakota based investor, was also secured by Sean R. Sharko, Austin Weisenbeck and Adrian Mendoza.

Elmhurst Memorial Medical is located at 429 North York Street in Elmhurst, IL and sold at 97 percent of its original list price. Elmhurst Memorial and Edward Hospital and Health Services recently merged to create one of Illinois’ largest integrated health systems with 50 locations. Combined, the health system’s total revenue equals $1 billion. Elmhurst Memorial provides healthcare to over 1.7 million residents in the west and southwest suburbs of Chicago. In addition to 50 locations, the health system has three hospitals, 7,700 employees and 1,680 staff physicians.

The property is located on York Road, just south of Lake Street and the entrance ramp for Interstate 290. There is a strong traffic count in front of the property of nearly 21,000 vehicles. York Street is known as Elmhurst’s retail corridor.

Condon has 20 years of experience in the Chicago Metro and Midwest markets with an emphasis on the food supply chain. He specializes in marketing, leasing and disposition of industrial properties, tenant representation for national and Chicago-based companies and development of infill sites and business parks. During his tenure as a broker, he has completed over 600 transactions valued at more than $950 million.

Formerly with Colliers International and Grubb & Ellis, Condon looks forward to blending his brokerage efforts with a newly formed entity, Food Systems International, which is active in logistics & distribution, food safety and product sourcing on a national basis for a variety of clients throughout the food chain.

Condon is also active in a number of food organizations such as, International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses (IARW), American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI), North American meat Association (NAMA) and American Society of Baking (ASB).

Take a south side Italian guy who likes all aspects of the culinary arts and get him going in a career in industrial real estate—it’s only natural that he’d eventually settle into working with food companies.

John Basile, vice president within the Industrial Advisory Group at Colliers in Chicago, said that food is so ingrained in what we do. He would know— Basile has been working in the food industry for roughly eight years.

“The real estate-related needs of food companies, whether they are based in Chicago or throughout the rest of the country, are significant— from processing and manufacturing to distribution,” he explained.

In addition to his food industry work, Basile covers the south suburban marketplace, from the area surrounding Midway Airport all the way to University Park.

However, before he got to where he is now, there was one other field he explored—fresh out of college, he worked in the mental health industry. His experiences in that field, he noted, are the reason he is able to work around tantrums, from his clients’ to his own.

But Basile always knew that he wanted to work in real estate and found that he had reached the point in his life where he had to decide whether or not to make the move—a decision of now or never—so he did.

His entry into real estate was methodical and focused. He went through an SIOR membership directory and started cold calling firms, to understand what they were looking for and how he might fit in. He also attended one of SIOR’s “meet and greet” events.

Ultimately, he settled in with Epic Savage and was paired with Jeff Locascio, another south side Italian.

And it was his first sale transaction that became his most memorable moment in the industry.

John at Disneyland with his three children

Basile recalled knocking on the door at Beamsterboer Inc., an industrial excavation company then in Orland Park, looking to determine if they’d be interested in selling their building. That following day, he knocked on the neighbor’s door, which was a media and production company, with a commission agreement in hand and suggested that the building next door would be a great expansion opportunity.

Not long after that, his first building sale/deal was completed— and although that was not his last transaction with those clients, it did teach him a valuable lesson.

“That first deal taught me two very important things, about real estate and business,” Basile shared. “It helps to have a certain degree of luck on your side when pursuing clients, but you also must work hard to keep those clients.”

After spending three years at Epic Savage, and three years at Grubb & Ellis, Basile landed at Colliers where he has been for four years.

“When you think of industrial real estate in Chicago, there’s Colliers and then there’s all the rest,” he said, speaking to the firm’s longstanding and groundbreaking experience in the field of industrial real estate.

Specifically, it’s the firm’s depth and experience that Basile said is amazing.

“The ability to pull from that, to learn from and get solutions from the people there is inspiring, and a true asset to better serving clients,” he continued. “It’s hard to get that support and the open collaboration anywhere else.”

Basile noted that the insights of senior people are beneficial because the issues and trends in the food service industry are indicative of most companies and industries operating out of industrial real estate.

“Users are better informed and smarter in their utilization of real estate,” he said. “It’s not just a matter of price per pound. It’s about occupancy costs, availability of qualified labor pools, design efficiencies and so much more.

John in Aspen with friends

Basile said their role, and what clients look for most, is their ability to connect the dots and to provide them with the necessary insights, analysis and support to make meaningful decisions. He added that it goes well beyond just saving another nickel per square foot.

Outside of work, Basile has served on the board of directors for Catholic Charities of the Joliet Diocese—what he considers one of his greatest accomplishments. In fact, the organization had also recognized his work and contribution and elected him Board Chairman last month.

When not working the southern Chicago industrial market or fulfilling his obligations to Catholic Charities, Basile looks to his family as well as physical activities—running, tennis, golf and skiing—to keep him busy. And then there is the cooking, baking, canning and pickling… of course—anything associated with the culinary arts.

For this summer, some of those hobbies have taken a back seat to getting settled into a new home with his wife, Kim, and children, that are five, seven and nine years old. Their new home in Lisle means a new school for the kids, something Basile and his wife point to as an exciting opportunity.

You’re developing a retail center. You’d love to have it anchored by one of the grocery business’ hottest stars, Whole Foods Market.

But how do you attract the grocer to your development?

It all comes down to the demographics.

Tim Blum, vice president of retail for HSA Commercial Real Estate knows this. A new 45,150-square-foot Whole Foods Market will open in February of next year at the HSA-developed Mayfair Collection mixed-use development in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. But HSA wasn’t sure to land the coveted grocer until the company could prove that the Wauwatosa location in the Milwaukee market would attract the members of Whole Foods’ core demographic.

That core demographic? College-educated consumers.

“Whole Foods doesn’t primarily look at the incomes or other socio-economic factors of the nearby customer base,” Blum said. “By far, what they most want to see is a large concentration of college-educated consumers near their stores, no matter what their income levels. College-educated consumers, by far, are what Whole Foods considers their best customers.”

Whole Foods already operates a store in downtown Milwaukee. And when the grocer announced its plans to open one additional supermarket somewhere in the western suburbs of the Milwaukee market, HSA officials took note. The only problem? Whole Foods officials originally considered the suburb of Brookfield as the leading choice for this second store.

Blum said that Whole Foods didn’t initially see much upside to opening in HSA’s Mayfair Collection development, largely because the development’s location was a former industrial site with no retail surrounding it.

This hesitation, though, disappeared when HSA began developing the first phase of the mixed-use center. HSA attracted top retailers such as Nordstrom Rack, Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th, Old Navy and Men’s Wearhouse. The Wauwatosa shops are some of the only locations for many of the retailers now operating at the Mayfair Collection.

This extends the trade area for the development, Blum said. The trade area for the first phase shops of the Mayfair Collection extends throughout the entire Milwaukee area, from the Northwest to the Southwest suburbs. The development also sits on Highway 45 just north of Interstate-94, making it easy for Milwaukee-area shoppers to get to it. Blum says that the Mayfair Collection is a 10- to 15-minute drive of nearly anywhere in the Milwaukee metropolitan area.

Whole Foods officials realized this, and saw that the college-educated consumers they crave would have no trouble reaching the location. That persuaded Whole Foods to choose the Mayfair Collection as the home for its second Milwaukee-area store.

“They saw that the college-educated people could best be served in this location,” Blum said. “This was by far the best location for them.”

Construction crews began building the new Whole Foods store in the fall of 2014. In August, HSA will deliver the completed building to the grocer. Whole Foods plans to open for business in the Mayfair Collection on Feb. 1 of 2016.

“A grocery store is a very attractive tenant for a retail center,” Blum said. “People shop at grocery stores several times a week. My wife shops at the Whole Foods in Chicago multiple times a week. That salient factor is by far the biggest reason why investors and developers are attracted to grocery-anchored centers. It’s all about driving sales. Grocery stores are the belle of the ball.”